Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wild claim that a swarm of Ukrainian drones targeted his home was a “bold-faced lie” made out of “desperation” to undermine peace negotiations, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane argued Friday.
“He’s not capable of taking Ukraine … He knows that the economy is crunching in on him,” Keane, a Fox News military analyst, said of Putin during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
In contrast, the retired four-star general observed that President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have appeared unified and made progress on “coming to an agreed position” to end the war.
Putin “resented” what was taking place and resorted to lying to Trump about the purported drone attack in an effort to derail talks, according to Keane.
“In desperation, he talks to the president about Ukraine attacking his residence and he’s shutting down negotiations – that is a bold-faced lie,” Keane said.
Keane cited an analysis conducted by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, which determined there is no evidence to back up the Kremlin’s claim that Putin’s country home in Russia’s northwest Novgorod region was targeted by 91 Ukrainian drones.
“No social media in the neighborhood blowing up on the social media sites like they always do when there is a major drone attack,” the retired general noted.
“No air defense systems firing anything, no evidence of any damage, no evidence of any drones on the ground being destroyed,” he continued. “And now the United States government, I think, is leaking the fact that this did not happen.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed Trump about the alleged attack on Wednesday, a source told The Post. That afternoon, Trump posted a link to The Post’s editorial arguing that Putin was likely lying about the alleged assault.
A CIA assessment backed the conclusion of other US national security officials that Kyiv did not attempt to attack Putin’s home, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Zelensky has also dismissed the Russian tyrant’s claim as a “complete fabrication.”
Keane argued that the Trump administration should reevaluate Putin’s “sincerity” and consider stiff sanctions on Russia if talks continue.
“He is lying to us about peace negotiations and his desire for peace,” Keane asserted.
“I think we’ve got to rework our thought process and how to deal with him, and it may be time now to double down on maximum sanctions and maximum military pressure,” he added.
